


Home Isn't Far Away

by calliepeepers (Karklescorp)



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game), Underhero (Video Game)
Genre: idk if i should tag relationships bc itd just be a lot lmao everyone has connections here, its subcon forest its not a happy place, more characters will be tagged as i go along, tw: hanging mention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:15:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27552931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karklescorp/pseuds/calliepeepers
Summary: Elizabeth IV and Axelo the Masked Kid have finally began their next adventure from beyond the Endzone. They find themselves in a new place, with new people and even new planets. The duo find themselves dealing with different situations entirely after suddenly getting separated and will have to survive without one other, with the end goal of finding each other and getting home. Hopefully with the help of friends old and new they can reunite with the world they left behind.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	1. A Lot of Falling to Do

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I just wanted to note that this is going to be a long multi-chaptered fic, so the updates may be slow or take a while. Regardless, I hope you all have a fun time reading!

An inky black darkness filled with hues of purple and stars were all the two heroes of our story could see. The hopelessness of the situation as well as the setting were something they both became accustomed to since the finale.

Normally, defeating the true villain of a story came with the reward of your loved ones as well as allies you’ve made along the way congratulating you, riches and various other rewards. The _respect_ of others. Titles, anything _but_ what the Masked Kid and Elizabeth IV were greeted with.

The two friends were thankful to be with each other than alone in a situation like this and were hopeful that they’d be able to find their way back home, or at least out of this eternal night that was meant to lead them to a whole new adventure.

It felt like days had gone by. Weeks, even… It didn’t matter that they had just walked through mere minutes ago.

One of the worst parts about the odd area they blindly traversed in was the lack of anything other than void. There was no climate, not even a temperature that could give Masked Kid a semblance of feeling other than tiredness. It was peculiar, neither of them could make heads or tails of how it was possible. Elizabeth did her best to keep morale up by telling stories now and then or simply talking to her friend. 

“Hey, uh, buddy…” Elizabeth said hesitantly, not even getting a glance from them. “Are you alright? We can take a rest, y’know. I see you getting sluggish.”

The faint echo of steps continue, unphased.

“Ki- _no_. Axelo.” Elizabeth sighed patiently. “Please. I need a moment to gather my thoughts without swaying back and forth here. ‘Sides, you aren’t listening to my stories anymore. I can tell!”

The movement slowed to a crawl before stopping entirely, Elizabeth feeling relieved when the Masked Kid-- whom we now know as Axelo, seemed to concede to her requests, sitting on the ground gradually. Their body slumped forward, clearly indicating how they feel right now. Poor kid. Elizabeth felt sympathetic, despite everything they were still very well a child. Being in this situation was probably really hard on them…

Who knew where they’d end up?

“Rest up, hero.” Elizabeth said softly, eyes looking off into the distance. “Who knows how much road we have left? N-Not that there will be a lot more! We’ve been so far, we’re bound to be at the end of the road soon enough, right?”

Axelo slowly turned their head to look at Elizabeth silently. After what was definitely a thoughtful look, they hum with “eyes” wandering towards where Elizabeth was looking towards. Nothing looked significant at all. Not even different. For all they knew, they could’ve been going around in circles this whole time, and what then?

“We’ll get back home, okay?” Ellie assured with a smile. “We’ll continue when you’re ready.”

Axelo didn’t doubt their friend — most of the time — but they were worried about what the future could hold. Maybe the place they were headed towards was filled with more dangers? Sure, the two of them could handle it no problem, there simply was the fact that Axelo was really tired of having to **_fight_ **all the time.

After a few minutes of looking down at the “ground” which looked more like they were walking atop the night sky, they stood up suddenly and continued forward. Elizabeth would have jumped if she had the mobility too, but being nothing but a hilt, she could only yelp in surprise. 

“Back on the ol’... Starry trail, huh? Give me a heads up next time, kid.”

Axelo only shrugs.

Walking ahead with nothing interesting happening was something they had become accustomed to. However, as the two did so, there was something happening to the realm they were in. Something that could be described as alarming.

Normally a change would be something the two could be relieved in, something new. A sign there could and would be change in scenery or at least proof that things in this realm were capable of change even without the Puzzleman’s influence.

This was not a good change, because what had happened was the floor unexpectedly stopped without a sign of it having ever done so. Without a floor, this meant that when Axelo stepped forward, they instead stumbled and began plummeting downwards with Elizabeth screaming in shock as the grip her friend had on her slipped, falling alongside them into the unknown.

The descent into the dark purple below them was terrifying. The speed they fell was nauseatingly fast, the stars speeding past them so quickly it was like white streaks in the sky rather than the sparkling dots they’ve come to know. For a reason they didn’t understand the speed they were falling at gradually got slower, the feeling of falling became more like slowly sinking into a pit of sand. Axelo tried to “swim” in the “air” towards their friend to take advantage of the situation, but it felt as if the deeper they fell the more of their vision they lost. The stars were gone, the floating cubes of white had disappeared. Then, there was nothing.

_“Axelo…!”_

Then, there was black.


	2. We Aren’t in The Chestnut Kingdom Anymore

When Axelo awoke, they had somehow ended up on a floor unscaved. Except… No. This wasn’t a floor… Where were they?

A gloved hand was brought to their head, vision blurred. Okay, they needed to sit up. Maybe if they could get their head to stop spinning, they could get bearings on where they were?

Shakily, Axelo used their other hand to sit up, gagging behind their mask from the wave of vertigo doing it. They were falling… They could remember that. So, what happened after that? They surely landed on the grass after the descent. Was it so horrible that they passed out or something akin to that?

Wait, wait. Grass?

The hand used to sit up now patted the ground, accompanied by another hand. Yeah. Grass. It was grass! Did they…? Were they now home? Could they now go off to see their friends, hug them, see what had happened after the final battle? Axelo got up as fast as they could in excitement, head moving in every direction to take in the sights around them clearly. 

Disappointment sunk in as soon as they saw that this was far from the land they had come from. They were in a forest, and initially assumed they must have ended up in the forest near Gregory’s manor since the trees looked nearly identical, but there was no snow to be found. It was still  _ cold _ , but it felt more like the chill of autumn rather than the harshness of an eternal winter. On top of this, the sky was a deep purple with mist surrounding to match. To add on to the feeling of autumn, leaves scattered the ground, as if they had just fallen recently.

So, all Axelo could gather from all of this information is that they weren’t home. But, perhaps, this forest could lead them to their home? If it looked similar to the forest near the manor there was a chance it was connected to it. They didn’t exactly explore every nook and cranny there was, especially since scaling up tree branches was dangerous enough. 

Nearby to where they had woken up, they noticed a swamp. There were wooden platforms within it, resting in the swamp or floating just above the water. That could be the way they had to go! It seemed like there was some wading they’d need to do, though. Signs also urged them to do otherwise, indicating that maybe it was a dangerous path to take.

Well, it was a good thing they had good ol’ Ellie to-

Oh, no! Elizabeth! Axelo started patting their hoodie, starting to look around the area in a wild panic. Where was she? They knew that she was being far too silent! Axelo was now very, very aware of how alone they truly were. In a creepy forest. Without a friend, a weapon —  _ Were those a bunch of  _ _ nooses _ _ hanging on the trees?  _ What looked to be a  _ figure  _ was hanging in one of them.

This could only turn out badly. They needed to find Elizabeth and get out of here, fast.

Looking around the forest was a scarier thought than originally perceived now that they were aware of being defenseless and on their lonesome, but they braved further into the woods to attempt searching more diligently. The decrepit trees and what looked to be houses (whatever was left of them) were depressing to see. Maybe once they had been cute little homes within the woods, but now they were hollow and rotting with moss growing all over the wood panels. Interestingly enough there were also stone ruins scattered about, it was uncertain what they could have been. Some resembled towers Axelo could recall seeing in more regal places like the castle… Some he recognized to be tombstones.

Axelo noticed creatures were lurking around nearby, looking quite friendly if not odd. Maybe to a “normal” person, serpentlike creatures with eerie animal masks would be the opposite of friendly, but they were well acquainted with many beings that looked like them. Actually, the fact that they had a mask too might be able to break the ice. Axelo attempted to walk up and conversate with one of them but they quickly flew off. Another simply stared at Axelo’s charade act before going off like the other. After the third didn’t even seem to pay attention to Axelo signing, Axelo sighed and gave up on trying to get the locals to help.

Bright mushrooms that glowed brightly in the otherwise dark forest gave them solace, but they swore they saw bright bits of yellow here and there. Fireflies, Axelo guessed if not to give themself peace. Creepiness and odd inhabitants aside, it wasn’t that scary of a place or all that different from the manor’s outskirts. Sadly, they weren’t keen on sightseeing, they were trying to find Elizabeth. They walk carefully towards one of the little shacks he’s seen around the place. They could look in here —

After noticing the door slowly swing open without any outside influence they could see, they decided maybe they should start heading somewhere else.

Noticing a dirt path, they hurriedly ran over to follow it, looking around for any sign of their friend. They didn’t like doing this, but maybe it was for the best that they at least made the attempt to do it _ once. _

“Elizabeth?!” they called, cringing inwardly at the sound of their voice. No answer. Elizabeth wasn’t near them… Oh well. At least she couldn’t go anywhere on her own. Oh, gosh, what if she fell in that swamp?! It was so far from where they’d started and they weren’t sure that they’d be able to find it again easily… It was so long ago, too… Who knows how far their friend would have sunk?

Axelo nearly started crying in their worry, shivering as a gust of wind passed them. Distantly, they noticed something ahead that made them stop in their tracks. A figure… Glowing. The same yellow they saw earlier in the shadows watching them look for Elizabeth. Squinting, it appeared to be a small figure. Nearly their size. They seemed to be watching them, waving when they noticed they now had Axelo’s attention and scampering off the moment Axelo decided to walk towards them.

Axelo assumed that maybe it was in their best interest (despite the inner voice within saying to hightail it out of here) to follow this strange person, running after them. They had to know what this place is, maybe they could tell them where they were or point them to  _ their  _ home and Elizabeth!

_ How fast could this guy run? _ Axelo thought to themself as they started huffing, taking a break to catch their breath. They noticed what they assumed to be a kid based on appearance and height watching them patiently behind a tree. Was this a game to them? Were they leading them somewhere…?

The only way to find out was walking forward — 

_ Snap! _

Suddenly everything went dark as Axelo ascended in the air blindly upon stepping on a pile of leaves.  _ Why did that keep happening to them?! _

At first Axelo thought they had ended up passing out again, but they were clearly still coherent and awake to boot. Wiggling around, they now took notice of the cloth against their arm. Were they in some kind of bag?! It had been a trick, surely! They couldn’t believe they fell into a trap, with all the experience they’ve acquired on their job. Helplessly Axelo wriggled and writhed inside, attempting to get free or pry the part where it was tied open to crawl out. It may as well have been attempting to punch titanium with bare hands, because nothing worked despite it simply being made of cloth. Outside of the bag there was the sound of what seemed to be a chime and without any warning it opened and out came the little hero, tumbling to the floor.

Quickly getting to their feet, they looked terrified underneath an unexpressive mask, taking in the new surrounding. Shadowy faces surrounded them in a dark, purple environment, making it feel like this was some kind of cage. Who had they been captured by?

They nearly regret asking that question, hearing the chiming getting louder as a purple figure suddenly began rising with alarming speed, twisting and turning as it’s form snaked around in the air, melding together in what was a more coherent form. Unnaturally long arms raised in the air to loom over them as yellow eyes pierced Axelo’s gaze, a wide grin to match with purple fangs soon revealing itself in suit. A harsh, bloodcurdling scream and thunder roared in the background, shaking the kid to their core. They fought before without a weapon, could they do it now? What on earth could they do?

**“HAHAHAHAHA!** **_FOOOOL!_ ** **”** the creature’s voice boomed, startling the kid and causing them to inch backwards. “You don’t know what you got into, do you?  _ HAHAHAHA! _ ” he cackled in delight once more upon seeing them shake in fear. “Clearly not, considering how careless you’ve been…” 

He trails off, looking down at the child again. Axelo swears this guy just did a double take. The creature blinked owlishly, as if he’d suddenly seen something odd. Internally, the ghoul with a snake-like body minus the scales was having a conflict. For a random intruder… They sure did look like a subcon dweller. It was odd how the kid wasn’t wearing the usual uniform, though. Regardless of that fact, had he been mistaken? Oh man, if that was the case, he’d never live this one down.

“Say, kid…” the deep voice rumbled, as to keep the intimidating factor up just in case he was right to assume otherwise. “You don’t  _ actually  _ happen to know who I am, do ya?” all he had to do was keep hamming it up to save face. If they said no, that was that. He could continue the usual schtick he did best.

The kid looked up at him, shaking their head no nervously. Axelo felt a trail of sweat run down their face at the pleased, malicious grin that gave their captor.

“Ahhh. I see… I should have guessed, because if you knew me… You’d have valued your life a  **lot** more and avoided trespassing in my land.” he chuckled lowly. “However, luckily for you… I got a spot opened up recently, so I’m looking to hire, so to speak. Don’t worry about needing experience — I’m a forgiving man, so you have no choice but to work for me anyway! Isn’t it a relief to know you get the job, guaranteed?”

Great. Finished with being a minion just recently and now they were back to the same old business. They almost had the nerve to say no as a contract appeared before them out of nowhere along with a quill.

“Oh, by the way! Did I mention that if you decide not to sign after all… I’ll kill you?”

Scratch that. Signing was the best option here. They had the sense at least to look at the contract, which seemed to be rather barebones. Work for the guy and… Woah, woah! He’d take their soul?! They looked up at him in an almost horrified manner and somehow even with an obscured face the man knew they felt hesitant (not that anyone wouldn’t be).

“Well? I don’t have all of eternity here, kid! You either sign that contract, or I’ll be ending your miserable little life!” he barked. Upon hearing that, Axelo simply turned over the contract, blinking. In an unimpressed manner, they look up at Snatcher pointing at the words on the back, which happened to be the following:

  
  


_ I hereby totally agree _

_ to do this Snatcher dude's dirty work. _

_ And also absolve him of all injuries I _

_ will most likely sustain from this work. _

_ Also, I'll give up my soul. no takey _

_ backsies. _

“...What? Contracts are always full of catches and clauses, kiddo. Don’t act surprised.”

There really wasn’t any other way out of this… Not without Elizabeth. Without much of a choice or say, Axelo signed, watching the contract roll up and seemingly vanish. Snatcher, whom Axelo internally referred to as “the rotten jerk who just stole their soul”, laughed in what was assumed to be sick joy at having another unwilling lackey in his arsenal.

“A pleasure doing business with ya!” he would grin smugly, but that was the only expression he seemed to make, so Axelo didn’t notice it one way or another. “Just let me take this off your hands…”

Axelo felt their body contort in pain suddenly. It felt like something deep inside of them began to squirm, resisting an urge to be torn out, only causing more discomfort. For Snatcher, it was more like trying to forcefully pull a square block from a circular hole. What the hell was happening here? This never happened to him in his life. He never, ever, EVER had a soul refuse to be taken from a body. He was powerful! The most powerful person in these parts! How could this happen to him? Why did kids continue to make a fool out of him?!

“What. Are. You.” Snatcher growled, glaring dangerously at Axelo. Axelo gave a cough in return, far too tired to pretend to feel afraid right now after that ordeal. They only hoped there wouldn’t be any more of that in the future!

“I asked you a  **question** , kid!” he was fuming, far too tired of the silent routine these stupid tots would pull each and every time he dealt with them! The only time one of the kids who ended up in his forest spoke ended up being thrown out before signing a contract because she had too much of a smart mouth. Snatcher didn’t take kindly to that.

With a deep, heavy, long sigh, the man eventually ran a hand down his face and turned away, murmuring to himself. Okaaaaay. Minor setback here. Kid was  _ not  _ a human, didn’t seem to be an  _ alien  _ either. He got that hat and bow kid’s souls just fine. The only explanation is that this kid was either already dead, which was a no go considering there WAS a soul in there. Another could be that, maybe… Could they be a demon? A ghoul? He wouldn’t be able to know because this little brat wouldn’t say a damn word. Of course that might be partially his fault for tormenting the child, but he didn’t care. Kids oughta learn to respect private property and stop wandering into clearly haunted forests! Anyone ever think about THAT?

Axelo was still hunched over, but not from pain. They didn’t feel like standing straight, but rest assured they were staring at Snatcher in wait for whatever was to come. Axelo was inclined to sign a question but it wasn’t like Snatcher would be paying enough attention to take note of it.

Eventually, with a sigh, Snatcher turned back to face the masked child with clasped hands. “Alright, alright. Since you signed that contract and your soul is still owed to me, you still gotta work for me here. With your signature, you are bound to this forest! In other words, I won’t let you skimp out of doing any work, kiddo!” he pointed at Axelo accusingly. “And don’t worry. I’ll find a way to get that soul of yours out. Just you wait. For now, be off! That contractual obligation won’t finish itself, y’know. Hehehe…”

With that, the Snatcher was gone, and Axelo was back in the forest. They now had a couple more goals to add to their journal. Sitting down, they reach into their inventory to pull it out when they felt something else. It was the contract! How did it get here…? It didn’t matter, because Axelo needed it anyway to write it down in their journal!

* * *

Entry One:

Me and Elizabeth finally got out of… Wherever the heck we were before. We don’t seem to be home anymore. I’m in this weird, scary place now… Maybe it’s close to the manor?

I don’t know where Elizabeth is, so I have to find her. I was looking for her when suddenly this weird kid led me to some trap! A guy called Snatcher made me sign this thing promising to work for him and he’d take my soul. He couldn’t though. Who knew I was that strong?

Apparently the first thing I gotta do is head to that swamp place to get some of Snatcher’s minions out of there. They got stuck. Maybe I’ll be able to find Elizabeth somewhere there… I hope that it won’t be in that gross water. I think I saw things in there….

It doesn’t matter, no matter what I have to find her! She’s a bit mean sometimes and bossy, but she’s my friend and protects me. We can’t protect each other when we’re gone from each other.

Where is she?????


End file.
